Settling In, again -- Week 44

We are back at work in the office doing what we were called to do.  We wrote a blog post last February called "Settling In."  Now we are doing the same thing all over again. 

Monday was our day off to cope with jet lag, go grocery shopping, etc.  We did some rearranging in the apartment, too.  Sue changed some of the kitchen cabinet contents around for what she thinks is more convenient.  We bought light bulbs for the bedroom nightstand lamps, and a plastic three-drawer small cabinet for under the bathroom sink.  And we started to get used to driving again on the "wrong" side of the street.  It's interesting that STOP signs here are a "suggestion."  While we were gone a little progress was made on the freeway interchange construction near our home.  However what they did do was remove all the electric traffic lights and put in portable STOP signs instead.  It's about three blocks of free-for-all.  But they had to do that, because it is going to be a four-lane road.  Before they get there it is two lane road, but sometimes on one side of the center divide and sometimes on the other side.  Each time we drive to the office and home again it seems like the traffic patterns are different.

Tuesday we met in the office with our wonderful Elders Mananga and Mbaki who were supporting the mission in the office for eight months while we were away.  We figured out where things were--on the desks, in the drawers, and on the computers.  We each set up our desks with two monitors.  We are used to working that way.  

President and Sister Lines took us all out to lunch on Tuesday to celebrate our return and to say Thank You to the Office Elders for their good work for the long months in the office.  We went to RocoMamas.  It's a favorite of the Elders (those with hollow legs) because they have huge speciality hamburgers and ribs and chips (french fries) and beautiful big milkshakes.  They each had a paper menu to check off all the things they wanted to eat--some hard decisions.

Ken also set up two monitors at home.  Sue has her laptop at one end of the desk.  Ken has one big monitor in front of him and another to the left on the kitchen counter.  He's working hard on the Christmas slide show for the mission, so needs lots of screen space.  The monitor in the middle has two HDMI outs, so Sue has a cable and can use it, too, if she needs another monitor.

Now that we are back, there are lots of details to worry about.  Each apartment ("boarding" in South African English) has a water filter with three stages of filters that are changed 6, 3 or 1 times each year.  Elders also have special water bottles with a built-in filter for when they are out of the boarding.  Sue sent this photo to all the Elders and asked them to count how many of each kind they have.  Two of the twelve companionships responded so far.  It will take a few phone calls this week to figure this out.  

Tuesday night Sue got ready for bed about 9:30 and was reading.  Ken came in 30+ minutes later and said we had no running water.  Not a big deal; welcome to Africa.  However, by the time we got up on Wednesday morning we still had no running water.  We do  have lots of large bottles of water in the flat, so we used that to drink for breakfast, brush our teeth, wash our faces, etc.  And we headed out to the office, unshowered, however.  We were invited to President and Sister Lines home for dinner.  Sue told them at the office that if we didn't have water by the time we got home from work, we'd bring our supplies and have a shower at their house as well as dinner.  But we didn't need to do that.  We had water again when we came home.  

Then a few days ago we noticed signs like this around the area.  No water overnight again this week on Tuesday/Wednesday.  We hope they really have it back on by 4 a.m. as promised.  There is also a similar sign near the Mission Office that says no water 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday.  We are glad we have spare water bottles there, too.

We went out for a walk in the neighborhood, and the monkeys are definitely still around in droves!

On Saturday we had Christmas early!  We went to the Durban airport, with Sue driving the full-sized nine-passenger van, the two Assistants to the President driving another van, and President Lines driving a pick-up truck.  

Nine of the Elders who were evacuated out in March were able to come back.  It was a terrific day--just so much joy all around.  

We were waiting inside the airport just where everyone comes out from baggage claim.  The Lines told us that this was the first time they had been inside the airport to wait for missionaries in eight months!  Last Sunday when we arrived they were all waiting outside.  The airport terminal just opened for non-passengers on Saturday morning.  As we watched the Elders coming out the door the security guard had a good time hamming it up for the camera.

First stop on the way back to the Mission Home was at the Durban Temple.  It is totally closed because of COVID restrictions, but the security guard there let us into the grounds to take a photo.  The Temple had been open for living ordinances starting in September but last week one of the maintenance staff came down with COVID, so the Temple is now totally closed for two weeks, and everyone who was working there is in quarantine.

We took all the Elders to the Mission Home in nearby Westville for lunch.  Sister Lines had ordered lunch wraps to be delivered at 11:30.  We arrived at 12:30 and there was no food. While the Elders waited patiently President Lines had them each speak for a minute or two about where they had been and what they had been doing for the last eight months. They had all been serving someplace else in their home countries--in California, Oregon, Colorado, South Carolina, Ohio and Leeds, England.  When they went home in March they were with their families for a month or two or three, then re-assigned to another mission for five, six or seven months.  Now they are back and so glad to be here.  President Lines was also able to give them some counsel and information about how the mission has been doing.  Even with so few missionaries (we were down to 24) and the inability to visit people in their homes, the work of teaching people and bringing them to Jesus Christ goes forward.  So many are being taught remotely with the help of local members.  Baptisms are happening.  The Lord's Work does not stop!

President & Sister Lines' joyful work this week, with the Assistants, was to decide where all the missionaries would be living and working.  This is the Transfer Board.  It's a big white board in President Lines' office.  Each missionary has a blue card with his photo, start and end dates, and where he has served and what leadership positions he has held.  These card get moved around the different geographic areas until all the pieces of the puzzle fit together properly.  There is also an electronic version in our mission database that ties each missionary to his apartment, phone, car, etc.  President was especially glad that most of the returning Elders can drive!  It's been hard with only about five drivers in the whole mission and the Elders not allowed to take public transportation.  That did help enforce the lockdown, however.  Elder Mananga and Elder Mbaki have been transferred out of the office and are gladly out doing regular missionary work.  We will miss them!

Today we have watched the Christmas Devotional by the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  If you haven't seen it, please watch.  It's a wonderful way to remember the true meaning of this Season.  The Tabernacle Choir is there, too, as recorded in past seasons.  President Russell Nelson is the most amazing 96 year-old!  He is a prophet of the Lord, and knows more than the rest of us of the reality of Jesus Christ as our Savior and the importance of His birth.